LOVE, Love, and Family
by Kamije Celeek
Summary: Kristen grew up quickly as a result of her father's neglect, and they've only recently begun to heal that relationship when a Human falls into the Underground. She suddenly sees a chance to escape the Underground for good and decides to help Frisk along. But when it comes down to it, can she betray the Monster King and help save those who are trapped? AU, mentions of suicide.


Sans frowned more than usual as the odor of cigarette smoke reached him.

 _I swear to God I'm going to kill her one day_. He picked up the pace. As he arrived at the source of the smell, he found Kristen leaning against a tree, cigarette in her slender teenage fingers.

"Pain in my ass," he greeted her gruffly.

"Old man," she replied just as curtly. She took a drag from the cigarette and blew smoke. "What the fuck do you want."

"You've gotta do your fucking _job_."

"Yeah, yeah. Fat load of shit coming from the king of hooky himself."

"I have an excuse. I'm a lazybones."

"And I'm on a smoke break."

"Those things will kill you faster than anything else down here."

"I don't care." He was about to protest further when he noticed something off about his adopted daughter.

She had dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in days.

"Kristen, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Now, why don't you leave me the hell alone?!" She put out her cigarette and stuffed the butt in her pocket.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing that's any of your damn business."

"If it concerns you, it _is_ my business. You're smoking more lately, not to mention the dark circles under your eyes. Have you been sleeping?"

"I don't know who can around here. It's a miracle you nap as much as you do."

She shoved her hands her pockets.

"I'll tell you what's wrong someday. Just give me a call when Hell freezes over."

He knew that he wouldn't get anything out of her, so he let her walk away from him. It wasn't her fault she was trapped in the Underground. It wasn't anybody's fault, really, except for the Humans who had sealed the Monsters down there in the first place. That didn't mean Humans couldn't enter, which was how Kristen had ended up in Sans's care in the first place.

Sixteen years previously, a Human couple had fallen into the Underground, emerging from the Ruins exhausted and with a baby girl in their possession. Sans had met them on the road and the woman had thrust the baby into his arms, begging him to take care of the little girl since she and her husband weren't likely to live too much longer. He'd been too shocked to decline, and the couple had left him with a baby in the middle of the forest.

Not too long after, two more Human SOULs were added to the King's collection.

He'd taken the baby girl home and assessed her SOUL. Perhaps because she'd been born in the Ruins, surrounded by the magic that lingered in the air in the Underground, some of it had fused with her SOUL, making it half Human and half Monster. Her SOUL was useless to the King, making her useless to the rest of the Underground.

Still, he took her in as his daughter, and soon all of Snowdin accepted her. Word of this strange child spread throughout the rest of the cavern and she was allowed to remain as one of their own. Unfortunately, Sans had no clue how to be a father, and the baby girl—whom he'd named Kristen—hadn't had much of a guiding hand past the age of five. She'd grown up quickly. She'd become a cynical, bitter, foul-mouthed young woman who respected no one.

And it was his fault.

He was the reason for her being like this, and she didn't trust him. He'd never know why his daughter was sleepless and more irritable than usual.

* * *

 _Darkness._

 _She was completely surrounded by darkness. She couldn't feel her limbs or hands or feet. In fact, there was no feeling in her body. Just her mind. All around her, she could hear voices crying, screaming for help. She was just a single consciousness, trapped in a never-ending stream. Energy was being sapped from her._

 _It was too much and she screamed as her energy completely faded._

Kristen jerked up in bed, panting. She glanced around to make sure that everything was okay; it had just been a nightmare. She was safely in her bedroom. What worried her was the fact that this was the fourth time this week she'd had this specific nightmare. She held her hand against her chest, hoping to slow her rapid heartrate.

 _What are you, five?! Get over it!_

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and onto the cold floor. As she stood, she looked into her mirror. Her hair was tangled and knotted, the dark circles especially prevalent against her pale skin. Shaking her head, the teenager walked downstairs to the kitchen, where she filled a glass of water and drank it to try and calm her nerves.

"Hey."

Kristen yelped and whirled around, the half-empty glass still in her hand. It was Sans. He had a concerned expression—well, as concerned as a skeleton could look.

"What the fuck?!" she snapped.

"I heard you scream in your sleep. Something is definitely wrong or you wouldn't be acting like this."

"Oh, so _now_ you care about me?! Where were you when I was a child and having near-constant nightmares because of you and your bonehead brother?! Oh, that's right! You were too busy _killing people_!"

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady!"

"I'll do what I want!"

"And what is it you want?!"

"To have died with my birth parents and not have gotten stuck with a shitty asshole of an adoptive father _who doesn't give a fuck about me_!"

For the second time in his life, Sans was too shocked to respond. She finished her glass of water and threw it in the trash-can, satisfied when it shattered. She then grabbed her coat and boots, throwing them on with an angry expression on her face, tears leaving hot, salty trails on her cheeks.

"I need some air."

As soon as she was gone, Sans mulled over her outburst.

She was right, he knew that. He'd waited too long to act like a father to her and now this was the cost of his laziness. She hated him more than ever when he tried to reach out.

He needed some advice.

* * *

"All right, I'm coming!"

Alphys cursed under her breath as the knocking continued. It was far too late for this shit. She'd open the door and tell whoever it was to come back in the morning, when she'd had some actual sleep and wasn't completely fucking exhausted. Yeah, that was what she'd do. She opened the door, ready to tell them to fuck off, when she realized it was Sans. The skeleton sentry had his hands in his pockets, looking very worried and depressed.

"Sans?"

"Hey, Alphys. I need to talk to ya." She let him by and shut the door. "I know it's late, but this is important. Really important."

"What's wrong?" The yellow lizard Monster headed to her small kitchen and made two cups of tea, handing one to Sans as he sat down on her sofa.

"It's… Kris." His voice was soft.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I… I don't know how to handle her anymore. She's been having nightmares, and when I tried to talk to her about it, we got in an argument and…"

"And…"

"She said she wishes she'd died with her birth parents so she wouldn't have gotten stuck with a shitty asshole of a dad like me who doesn't give a fuck about her." Alphys pressed her lips together and cleaned her glasses.

"It's not her fault, you know. You've been a pretty shitty dad to her. I don't blame her for having an outburst. I know she's been bottling up her emotions for a while now, and you opened up that bottle. She's at a rough patch in her life right now—stuck between childhood and adulthood, when she didn't have much of the former… I'm surprised she hasn't had a blow-up before now."

"I've been terrible, I know."

"She had to grow up quickly and fend for herself, and she figured out that she was the only person she could rely on." Alphys took a deep breath, wondering if she should tell Sans the rest.

"There's more to it, isn't there?"

"When… when she was younger, I told her that she could come to me if she needed help of any kind. Shortly after she turned thirteen, she started coming to me for advice and a place to vent. I'm sort of her psychologist, I guess. More recently, though, she's started… mentioning things."

"What kind of things?"

"I shouldn't tell you. Doctor-patient confidentiality… but then again, I guess I should."

"What is she telling you?!" He was panicking now.

"She's terrified, confused, and upset, and I can understand why. But… she's been talking about nightmares and the Abyss."

Sans swore the world around him stopped.

The Abyss.

The place where all garbage from the surface eventually ended up. It was endless, absolute, and unknown. And that's what also made it a popular spot for suicide jumpers. Being trapped underground had driven more than a few Monsters to take their own lives out of sheer hopelessness.

"You don't think she's…"

"Sans, I'm going to ask you one question. Do you actually care about her, or is this just an obligation?"

"She's my fucking _daughter_!"

"I know, but do you actually care about her?"

He thought back to when Kristen had been a baby, newly left in his care by her parents who wanted her to have a chance. How she'd clung to him like a vine to a fence, calling him her dad and being so full of light and laughter. How that light and laughter had faded into sullenness and resentment over the years.

"Yes. I care about her."

"Then try again."

"I'll talk to h—"

Suddenly, loud blaring sounded throughout the lab. Alphys looked at her watch, which had a small computer screen, and tapped it. Her eyes grew wide with horror as she looked at some kind of video feed that Sans couldn't clearly see.

"Dump alarm," she told him. "You need to go there, now."

* * *

 _Just jump, and it'll all be over._

Kristen stared into the Abyss, the endless, inky black calling to her to jump and end her miserable existence.

 _Nobody loves you. Everyone hates you. Nobody's gonna care or miss you when you're gone._

Her breath hitched.

 _Step off the platform and over the edge._

She took a deep breath and…

Somebody pulled her back right as she jumped. They grabbed her arm and yanked her back onto the wooden platform she'd just been standing on, keeping her from heading into the endless dark.

"Kristen Lucida Gaster, just what the _hell_ do you think you're doing?!"

She whirled around to face her father, who was radiating anger and… relief?

"What did it _look_ like I was doing?!" she hissed. "I was ending the torture that is my life!"

"Why?" His voice was so quiet, she wasn't sure she'd heard him at first. "Why, Kris?"

 _Kris_.

She was startled to hear him use her nickname—he hadn't called her 'Kris' in over ten years. Back when she'd been a stupid kid. Back when she'd been naïve enough to think he actually cared about her. Back when she had _hope_.

"Because…" Tears ran down her face as she glared at the ground. "Because I'm _worthless_. Because nobody loves or cares about me. Because not even my own birth parents wanted m—"

 _SMACK!_

Kristen yelped and held her cheek. Sans had just slapped her, hard, and he wasn't going to let her finish. She knew that.

"Now you shut your goddamned mouth and listen to me. You think you're _worthless_? You keep me and your uncle from dusting each other on a daily basis. You pick up my slack at the sentry station. You brought Alphys out of her shell and into the real world. She and Undyne both love and care about you. MK? He's been in love with you for _years_. And your birth parents? They loved you so much that it almost killed them _right then and there_ to give you up. But you want to know something? They wanted you to have your best shot at life, so they gave you to me."

She opened and closed her mouth, unable to respond.

"I'm gonna be the first to admit I've been a fucking _awful_ father. I neglected you. I ignored you. I didn't do a good job raising you. I _know_ I fucked up, and I fucked up _big time_. I realized it awhile back, but by then, it was too late. You'd shut me out. It might still be too late to try and fix things between us. But, Kristen… I'm gonna say this so you know. I love you, okay? We're stuck with each other whether we like it or not, so we might as well deal with it together."

It was then that Kristen realized Sans had tears running down his face, whereas she was holding hers back. She'd sworn she'd never cry in front of people. Crying was a sign of weakness, of emotional vulnerability. He loved her, and cared about her, though. He actually _cared_.

 _To hell with it!_

For the first time in ten years, Kristen let her tears run free, breaking into full-scale sobs as she hugged her father. He seemed surprised before returning the hug.

"I… I l-love you, too, Dad!"

 _Dad._

The word hit him like a bolt of lightning. It was the first time in over a decade that his daughter had referred to him as her father, and the feeling was warm and welcome. He held her tightly, letting her cry as long as she wanted. She deserved that much after almost a decade of neglect. He knew things weren't completely fixed; they never would be.

But it was a start.

"You wanna go home?" he asked her. She nodded stiffly, and they used one of his shortcuts to get back home.

It was the dawn of a new chapter for their little family, and not a moment too soon. Up on the Surface, somebody was about to fall and change the Underground forever.

* * *

 **Okay, so before you all jump up my ass about my OC being named Kristen (nicknamed Kris), I created her about** _ **two years ago**_ **. Long before Deltarune ever came out or was even announced. That's about when this story was originally written. Surprisingly, this is pretty close to the original version, with a few unnecessary characters removed and their scenes attributed to others.**

 **Kristen's nightmare is for you all to interpret.**

 **So long and thanks for all the fish!**


End file.
